Another Look at Durst’s BIG 57th Street Project

Last week came the news that the Durst Organization was working on its project at 57th Street and the West Side highway once again, even if the work was simply an as-of-right filing to keep the project eligible for brownfield tax credits. Then on Monday came the crazy cartoonish news that what was actually intended for the site was a residential building designed by Danish starchitect-to-be (and arch-o-lantern fave) Bjarke Ingels.

Now comes the first non-comic-book glimpse of the building from a talk the designer gave last night at Harvard. The picture’s of a PowerPoint video, so it’s not the best, but still, the pyramidal project is so tantalizing, The Observer will take whatever it can get.

Meanwhile a tipster writes in to share more details on the design (“three sided with an opening to the west and a courtyard on the interior”) and the disappointing news that the Durst Organization has decided to nix the facade planting due to feasibility concerns (that might explain the lack of green in the rendering).

Yet the fact that Bjarke showed off the project with “Empire State of Mind” as the soundtrack is the worst news of all. Maybe he’s not as cool as The Observer thought. Doesn’t he know that song is so last year?